Lawmakers in both D.C. and Maryland announced Monday that residents 16 and older will be eligible for vaccines earlier than expected.

Maryland residents will be able to get a coronavirus vaccine appointment starting April 6,  according to Governor Larry Hogan. Eligibility will only be expanded at the state’s mass vaccination sites at first. Other providers, such as pharmacies and county health departments, will be required to expand their eligibility starting on April 12.

Mayor Muriel Bowser also announced Tuesday evening that all of-age D.C. residents will become eligible on April 19. She confirmed that the city will still extend eligibility to Phase 1C, Tier 3 workers — which includes higher education employees, construction workers, and information technology staff — on April 12, as planned.

Bowser encouraged residents to sign up with the city’s pre-registration system, which schedules appointments based on age, zip code, medical conditions, and jobs. And as federal distribution of vaccines ramps up, some pharmacies have also begun scheduling appointments directly.

Hogan cautioned that many Marylanders won’t get an appointment right away because demand for vaccines already outstrips supply, and opening the floodgates to more registrations would intensify the problem. “But with the supply of doses increasing over the next month or so, a vaccine should be available for everyone who wants one,” the governor said. D.C. has also struggling to meet high demand for vaccines, with reports of residents traveling out of state to get an appointment.

A mass vaccination site operated by FEMA is scheduled to open at Greenbelt Metro station in Prince George’s County on Wednesday, April 7.

The new timeline is an aggressive change from the state’s previous goal of expanding eligibility by April 27, just a few days before President Joe Biden’s national timeline for vaccination eligibility.

The governor urged residents to preregister for a shot via Maryland’s official vaccination website or the state’s hotline: 1-855-MDGOVAX. As more people are vaccinated, Hogan said, the state’s goal is to phase out mass vaccination sites and direct residents to local pharmacies instead.

The Republican acknowledged that COVID-19 cases in the state have been trending up instead of down for several weeks. Instead of attributing that to his decision to reopen businesses statewide last month — a move some public health officials have called premature — Hogan said small family gatherings, working outside the home, and travel are bumping up case numbers. He also said variants of the virus, which have been found in Maryland, are a top concern.

He called on all residents to sign up for a vaccine appointment as soon as they can, saying: “Time is not our friend in this battle.”